Vodacom Fibre is a ****. I wish I could pick zero stars.

I don't even know where to begin. Let me preface this by stating that this has been undoubtedly the worst customer service I have ever received.

Two months ago I signed a contract for the installation of fibre in my apartment. Soon enough Octatel installed the fibre box but they were surprised the router had not been already delivered by Vodacom. Still, they gave me instructions for how to install it and I'm not an idiot so I didn't complain. I gave it a week. And when I didn't hear back I called into the fibre sales department to enquire. They acknowledged the irregular wait but assured me that they would send an escalation request to get the router delivered. I was told someone would be in touch.

No one got in touch so a few days later I called in again, the conversation went much the same way. An escalation request would be sent. I remained patient. I trusted that someone at one of the world's largest telecommunications networks would be capable of resolving this. That was my mistake.

Days later I had not heard back. When I called in I was told that they (the courier service RAM) had attempted to deliver the router but that they could not get in touch wity me so the router was returned to the warehouse. Turns out that someone had recorded my number incorrectly, it was off by one digit. So obviously I could do nothing about it. Why no one at vodacom made an attempt to contact me another way I do not know but that's the least or my problems. But fine, people make mistakes and I could accept that as a reason for why my router had not been delivered. So I provided the correct number and waited again. A week would pass, still I was not contacted. I mean how hard is it to pick up a phone and call a customer to update them? So i called in again. Speaking to a new consultant I was alarmed to find out my contact info had not even been updated let alone had the request for the router to be delivered again been tended to. Nothing had been done in a week. Zero progress. The project manager had not rep**** to the escalation request. So they sent another. And I waited once again.

Not once did vodacom call me back. I called in thrice more before my patience wore out. The project manager had not rep**** to any of the escalation requests. Not a single one despite the consultants stressing the urgency and tardiness of the case. At this point I reached on social media (Twitter). I called in again, spoke to a fami**** consultant and when she informed me that her emails had still received no feedback I demanded to speak to a supervisor. That very day she made a few calls (by the way my contact information had still not been updated) to the warehouse and couriers. The next day RAM called to arrange a delivery time. And in a few days I had my router. Firstly, why did I have to shout at consultants and speak to supervisors in order to get someone to do something that could clearly be done in a day's work. That tells me that someone else was just too damn lazy to do it in the first place.

Secondly, this pathetic service complaint isn't even over. I connected the device, it worked fine but the network still had to be configured. So i call into tech support who seemed more forthcoming with information than fibre sales had been. The consultant tells me that there is an issue. The MAC number on the back of my router doesn't match their system. Apparently some idiot at fibre sales had cancelled and reissued my sales order so many times during the hapless attempts to deliver my router that there was no router listed on my account!? What the hell, i have the router! But anyway I accepted that. This is a new department, they're not at fault. So I asked him to look into it and get back to me. By the next week absolutely nothing had been done. The project manager hadn't gotten back to him. Are you seeing a theme? So I once again got someone to send an escalation request. And the following another. I now reached out on facebook and twitter whose requests were added to the email chain sent to the project manager. And here I am, today, two months later, and the project manager has still not rep****!!! Whomever is responsible has not done his/her job for two months? How is that acceptable? They have no direct contact or communication with the project manager, so they can only send emails to him/her. And since him/her isn't replying, because apparently replying to emails is too difficult for this *********** halfwit, there is nothing being done. I've signed a contract, a fee has been paid, can someone just do their damn job and configure this network. It's not difficult. I'm not asking for more than what is owed. I spoke to a consultant today, he told me that all the messaged have received no reply. This project manager should be fired because this is horribly unprofessional.

Imagine you went to restaurant and ordered a sandwich. A toasted cheese and tomato. You wait three hours, getting increasingly angry. The waiters cant speak to the chef. So you're forced to wait for him to reply to text messages requesting the ****** sandwich be brought out. Three hours later they bring you a plate with melted cheese and tomato on it. But no bread. Because that's what a router with no internet is. Absolutely useless. Would you accept that? Would you walk out? Would you demand to speak to the chef? I'm told I cant cancel and get a full refund which is a load of **** because how can you bill me if i havent received what I've paid for. I'm told I cant speak to the project manager. That too is a load of ****. How can I not speak the person holding up the entire process? That is an idiotic system.

A tech consultant, even people at the vodacom store i visited, have told me to cancel the contract because this is beyond ridiculous now. People in the organisation are aren't proud of the service imagine how I feel being treated like this. I'm not at all being unreasonable when I say that this is unacceptable and the person in charge should be fired. If i dont do my job for two months you can bet I'd be fired. And its not like they've been working hard to solve it. Because if there was a major issue they'd ought to contact me once in the past two months. But no one ever does. I have to call in every time. And the fact that none of the escalation requests have even been responded to implies that someone just hasn't done anything about it. I feel like vodacom doesn't give a damn because all anyone is doing is sending more emails. Is that the best anyone can do for me? Is that the pitiful standard this organisation has?

If I could give you guys zero I would. It's really that bad. At this point I dont expect I'll ever have connection so here's what I want. 1) to cancel my contract with a full refund. If I am charged even one cent for this service I will get a lawyer involved. Would you pay a cent for a sandwich with no bread? No. Then dont expect your customers to pay for services you refuse to deliver. And I do mean refuse because its not that it can't be done. Someone isn't doint it. 2) I want to launch a formal complaint. Not on Hello Peter. I want to send an email to customer service rep who will investigate the performance of the project manager. At best the manager should be demoted. What that person deserves is to lose his or her job because no one can tell me that they have done their best to assist me and they reflect very poorly on all of vodacom. You cannot be proud of that employee. I want this complaint to be recognized and I want to be able to follow up on it so that I know this is being dealt with. Such negligence should never pass with impunity. 3) a sincere apology would be nice. One where someone recognizes that this has been unacceptable and someone should be held accountable. An admission that this has been appaling service and that i am fully justified in my umbrage.

I really hope someone takes seriously these concerns because now that I've lost all hope of securing my fibre, that I've paid for, it will now be my mission to drag Vodacom's reputation through the mud until someone does something to make amends.

If I've paid for something and you guys refuse to deliver it, that isnt a problem. That's a ****. Its theft. Its a disgrace.